For one weekend a year, the spotlight of the financial world shifts from New York to Nebraska. The annual meeting of the Berkshire Hathaway company has developed a cult following among shareholders and financial journalists alike. A compound annual return of 20% over 55 years (!) will do that for you.
The consummate value investor, Warren Buffett, attributed the growing cash stockpile to an absence of compelling investment opportunities. Better to hold cash than make bad investments, after all. Market volatility in the early months of 2022 did loosen the purse strings a bit as Berkshire made a large acquisition and built large positions in three publicly traded companies. All told, the first quarter investing activity drew cash down to approximately $105 billion, which is still enough to cover payroll for a while.
Mr. Buffett certainly doesn’t need us to remind him of the perils of “lazy capital” on the corporate balance sheet – the yearend cash stash represented approximately 20% of Berkshire’s overall market capitalization. Giving Mr. Buffett the benefit of the doubt (which he has probably earned at this point in his career), are there any good reasons for family businesses to hold some cash in reserve? In this week’s post, we share our view of the three potential benefits to keeping some cash on the balance sheet.
